Salamander
Salamander (Salamox in the second game) is an Optional Boss encountered on 8F in Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard and its remake. This fire breathing lizard resides in the Auburn Thicket. Being far more powerful than the other monsters that reside the area, avoiding combat with this creature is a must in order to continue the exploration of the forest. However, the Duchy has interest in the monster, specifically its plumes, an vital ingredient of the Panacea sought by the princess High Lagaard, in order to heal her father from a deadly malady. Thus, a mission is issued, and the adventurers must obtain said item while avoiding combat with this fearsome beast. While no quests to kill Salamox exist in the original game, the remake introduces one that requires its normal drop. That said, Salamox remains an optional boss, and can be completely avoided if you deem the fight unnecessary. Salamox (Etrian Odyssey II) The player is first introduced to Salamox through the mission "In pursuit of Salamox". Its room is easily accessed from 8F, but it also fiercely guards the three search spots where the Flame Plume could be located. To get it out of the way, draw its attention, then lead it around the room so you can search the areas. Mind the damage tiles and Firekings nearby. Skills * Breath (Uses Head): Ranged fire attack across the entire party, may bind legs. * Tail (Uses Legs): 3-6 bash attacks across random party members. * Blood Cry (Uses Head): May cause instant death or curse to the party. Drops * Flame Bone (Worth: 6201 en) * None. * Flame Puff (Worth: 30000 en) Conditional Drop * To get its conditional drop, the Flame Puff, you need to defeat it with a fire attack. Salamander (Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold) Salamox, renamed as Salamander, returns in the game's remake, keeping its original role. It will behave differently in overworld however, keeping stationary and breathing fire at you to keep you away from it. Every three times it breathes fire however, the beast will have to stop and rest for several steps, giving you time to either reach the area where the plume is, or attack it from behind, granting you an preemptive attack. Defeating the Salamander is required to obtain the Flame Marrow item for the quest "The Ancient Blade", which is key to unlocking the quest that enables the fight with the Great Dragon. The fight against the Salamander, like the other remade boss fights, has been largely revamped and has been made more difficult. Despite this, the fight is rather straightforward and as long as you can handle its mechanics well, you shouldn't have many problems. It goes without saying to have protection against fire before starting the fight, either with skills, items or equipment. Having head bind protection for characters who use this kind of skill is recommended as well, but optional. Skills that inflict head bind or sleep are useful as well. Salamander will always open the fight using Avarice Claw, an attack that pierces across both character rows, dealing heavy damage and inflicting either paralysis or poison. The poison effect of this attack is very powerful, inflicting over 200 damage, so bringing protection against it may be necessary such as venom rings, Prevent Order, or food from Regina. Every turn after it uses Avarice Claw, Salamander will use Hellfire Breath, inflicting massive fire elemental damage on the entire party. Crushing Tail will inflict medium damage, and hit random targets multiple times. Harsh Cry reduces the elemental defense of the entire party and may inflict head bind on them. Through the fight, Salamander will summon several Baby Salamanders. While these monsters are F.O.Es, they are very weak compared to your party at this point, so their damage shouldn't be that high. However, their main function is removing your Fire Wall protection on the turns Salamander uses Hellfire Breath, using Flame Breath, a weak fire attack that hits a single character row. Since the Fire Wall skill only blocks a single fire attack, this will leave said character row unprotected against Salamander's fearsome attack, likely killing them. If your party is relying on said skill to survive, your best bet is to bind the Baby Salamander heads, or inflict sleep on them, incapacitating them on said turn. While killing the babies may seem tempting, Salamander will retaliate with its most powerful attack if you do so, the Inferno Rounds. This attack inflicts massive fire damage, hitting random targets several times. Not only that, but Salamander will use this outside its pattern, meaning that it can use this attack AND another of its skills in the same turn. For this reason, you must avoid killing the babies at all costs, otherwise you will have little chance surviving the Salamander's barrage of attacks. Salamander will never use Inferno Rounds if you don't kill its babies. Bear in mind that if the Salamander notices its babies are afflicted with ailments, it can use Heal Cry to restore its health and remove ailments from it and its babies, making acquiring the conditional drop slightly more difficult. Skills * Hellfire Breath (Uses Head): Massive fire damage on the entire party. * Avarice Claw (Uses Arms): Pierces across the rows, dealing heavy damage and inflicting paralysis or poison. * Crushing Tail (Uses Legs): Medium damage against random targets. Hits 4-6 times. * Harsh Cry ''' (Uses Head): Reduces the elemental defense of the entire party, and may inflict head bind. * '''Heal Cry (Uses Head): Restores 3500 HP to its allies and removes ailments. * Inferno Rounds (Uses Head): Massive fire damage to random targets. Hits 6-8 times. Used whenever a Baby Salamander is killed. Drops * Flame Marrow (Worth: 13000 en) * None. * Flame Breath (Worth: 25000 en) ** Selling this to the shop unlocks the Agneyastra, one of the strongest guns in the game. Conditional Drop * In order to get Salamander's conditional drop, the Flame Breath, you must kill it while the boss is inflicted with the fear status. Related Monsters * Baby Salamander Salamander (Etrian Odyssey Nexus) The Salamander returns as the midboss of the Golden Lair, guarding the way forward on B2F. It shares a very similar overworld behaviour with its iteration in The Fafnir Knight, rotating on the spot and having a long sight range that signals the use of its flaming breath. If the party is caught in its breath, they will take damage and get pushed backwards. The Salamander rests for two steps after using its flaming breath. The player will need to destroy the pile of scales on the floor, which cools the room and exhausts the Salamander, preventing it from attacking from afar and opening up the opportunity to engage it in battle. The Salamander opens the fight with Hellfire Breath and alternates it with either a regular attack or Avarice Claw. At the end of the turn where it's hit 90% HP, it will summon a Baby Salamander into battle. It will then begin calling in more Baby Salamanders for each 10% HP threshold it has fallen to. Past 70% HP, the Salamander will call in two Babies at once; at 30% it can summon three, and at 10% it can call in four, filling up the entire battlefield in one fell swoop. The Baby Salamanders may be annoyances on their own, but they can turn into viable threats in great numbers, as their own attacks will put the party under more pressure. While its children are in the fray, the Salamander will use Selfless Love which causes it to take any attacks that its children would. This skill makes killing off the Baby Salamanders more difficult but it also causes all hits from a multi-hitting attack to pile onto the Salamander itself, significantly speeding up the battle. Selfless Love is guaranteed to be used right after the first time the Salamander summons her babies into battle, and will be repeated every six turns afterwards. The Salamander will never use Selfless Love if it's the only enemy in battle. At the 50% HP threshold, the Salamander adds Crushing Tail to the mix of attacks. Between this and the babies' Dust Tail attacks, there will be plenty of random-hit bash damage that may kill your party members from nowhere. At the 30% HP threshold, the Salamander will use Healing Howl to recover HP and cure it and its companions of ailments and binds, potentially prolonging the battle. The chance of Healing Howl being used increases with more Baby Salamanders in battle. Skills *'Hellfire Breath' (uses Head): Ranged fire attack to the entire party. *'Avarice Claw' (uses Arms): Line-piercing melee cut attack, may inflict poison or paralysis. *'Selfless Love' (uses Arms): Takes all attacks for any Baby Salamanders in battle. *'Crushing Tail' (uses Legs): 3-6 random melee bash attacks across the entire party. *'Healing Howl' (uses Head): Heals all allies for 1500 HP and removes ailments and binds. Drops *'Flame Marrow' (worth 18,000en) *'Burning Tail' (worth 38,000en) ** Unlocks the Mirage Vest (DEF 96, MDF 105, LUC +15), the best armor for Nightseekers. Conditional Drop To obtain the Burning Tail, kill the Salamander while its legs are bound. Trivia * Salamox has similar traits to the Boiling Lizard from Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan. Both are fire-based monsters that are fond of claiming specific tracts of territory for their nests, and they have a few commonalities in their attacks (fire breath, tail attacks). Perhaps most tellingly, their means of acquiring their conditional drops are both identical as well (on the original game at least, as it has been changed in the remake). * Salamox is a callback to Wyvern in the first Etrian Odyssey, being an optional boss that you must avoid the first time you see it, in order to get and item from them, and can only be beaten much later in the game when you are strong enough. The Untold series makes it even more obvious by having Salamander to behave in a similar way to her, being stationary while firing attacks from afar at the party. Category:Etrian Odyssey II Monsters Category:Etrian Odyssey II Bosses Category:Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold Monsters Category:Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold Bosses Category:Etrian Odyssey Nexus Monsters Category:Etrian Odyssey Nexus Bosses